Border queues back to what five years ago

Gibraltar - 5th April 2017 - Border delays for both pedestrians and vehicular traffic at the border crossing between Gibraltar and Spain were this afternoon experienced after changes in the border controls by the Spanish authorities. Over two hours delay was experienced with vehicular traffic coming to a standstill and forcing diversions across the main roads in Gibraltar. The Royal Gibraltar Police were forced to implement what they described as the "3rd lane" which was a procedure which had not been used in over three years to control traffic heading into Spain. Pedestrians were also met by stricter border controls on the Spanish side increasing the waiting time to cross to over an hour at peak time.
All traffic was diverted to the east side by the police reducing the traffic gridlock in the main city centre area.
The changes in the Spanish side of the border comes after new Schengen regulations come into force this week, coinciding with changes in personnel atthe border due to the forthcoming Easter holidays. Personnel from Madrid have beeb deployed to the border. The worst affected where commuters heading back into Spain, mostly Spanish workers and Gibraltarians and foreign workers living in Spain. The delays also coincided with school children heading back into Spain.